Donald Trump has selected Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate for this year’s Presidential election.
Trump made the announcement on social media on the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A short time later the pair were officially declared as the Republican’s Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates.
Vance, 39, has served as Ohio Senator since 2023.
He was once a critic of Trump calling him an ‘idiot’ on social media and describing him as ‘cultural heroin’ in an article in The Atlantic.
But it wasn’t long before he became a Trump supporter and began backing his policies, later expressing his “regret” for being wrong about the President.
He is regarded as a staunch conservative who opposes abortion.
President Joe Biden has criticised Vance’s selection, describing him as a Trump “clone”.
“Donald Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t do on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Biden said in a statement.
